If there's a big earthquake near a fracking job, operators in a large part of the state will now be required to shut down. That's according to new regulations by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

When we report on induced seismicity, or man-made earthquakes in Oklahoma, we generally point out that these are quakes believed to be caused by injecting oilfield waste water underground, and not by hydraulic fracturing. But a new study shows there may be some exceptions to this.

Two earthquakes struck back-to-back Tuesday morning in Cushing. One was recorded as 3.3 magnitude. Another was reported as a 4.0-magnitude earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 

News 9 Reporter Dana Hertneky is on the OU campus, talking the head of Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) about the recent earthquake spike near Blanchard, Oklahoma. 

This time last year, Oklahomans were feeling multiple, good-sized earthquakes daily.  Since then, the Corporation Commission has limited the amount of wastewater that's being injected back into the earth.

When the ground shakes here, it no longer catches people by surprise. But the fact that it shook twice overnight seemed to add an exclamation point to the release, just a few hours earlier, of the USGS's new hazard map -- the first to include the risk from induced seismicity, and the first to officially lift Oklahoma into the same overall risk category as California and Alaska.

Thursday, Governor Mary Fallin announced the approval of nearly $1.4 million from the state emergency fund to bolster the efforts of regulators and earthquake researchers in Oklahoma.